14th June 2024
We were now heading North along the coast and arrived at our destination in Coopers Shoot close to Byron Bay - the most Easterly point in Australia.
We abandoned the van for a couple of nights and were pleased to have a warm studio to ourselves with hot running water, tea making facilities and a fridge. As if that was not enough, our windows looked out onto sweeping views down to the sea. The occasional white breaks in the smooth blue waters indicated the presence of whales. We were to get closer to whales later as we went down to the coast.
We were woken by the proprietary cackle of Kookaburras and the grass stretching out below us was being grazed by small kangaroos under the gum trees that rustled audibly and shifted in the light winds.
The surrounding grassy farmland had previously been rain forest and as wood was felled to make way for farm land and properties, the logs were slid down ‘shoots’ to the sea to transport them - hence Coopers Shoot!
We were so lucky again with the warm June wintery sun in this northern outpost of New South Wales. Those in Sydney were simultaneously experiencing rain and chilly temperatures. Its proximity to the Queensland Sunshine Coast has not gone unnoticed!
It definitely pays to have an Australian mother, as our itinerary and stopovers have been largely dictated to by the presence of welcoming (albeit distant) Cousins, many of whom I had met only briefly or in some cases previously not at all. But we are constantly amazed at how welcoming and friendly are all the members of this family.
We cannot help but be drawn to the beautiful coast and in this area, to Byron Bay and its prominent Lighthouse, where again we were promised the sighting of Whales.
We were not to be disappointed on this occasion. I cannot share good photographs as they appeared and sank almost too quickly to capture. But rest assured that we saw many a flurry of flicking tail fins as they moved around unimpeded in the vicinity of the popular lighthouse.
Brunswick Heads
We were sent out from Coopers Shoot to explore Brunswick Heads a few kilometers away. Here the river discharged into the sea and the bustling holiday town had a small harbour, a couple of beaches, various promontories and linking bridges which provided a range of trails and routes along and around the sea frontage. You had choices of beaches and sand, or shady grassy areas where camper vans were parked and the occupants were scattered around picnicking. Canoes could be hired by the hour and hidden along the shoreline a tidy camping site had amazing waterside views. Local kids and their Dads were fishing in the river estuary. And the shopping frontage was full of low key eateries and icecream parlors. I suppose what amazed me most was that this was a Saturday afternoon in winter! Harsh.
Bangalow
Bangalow had been recommended to us as a worthwhile destination where you were guaranteed a good cup of coffee and treats of all kinds. It did not disappoint. Virtually every building on the Main Street was a retained heritage building and its original purpose described on mounted plaques. Now, old businesses which might have been selling fishing tackle or rope or whatever, had been taken over by upscale boutiques or exotic eateries.
You might be forgiven for thinking that you had just fetched up in the Hamptons. The clothes were lovely high ticket items and so were most of those shoppers drifting around! We had been sent on a shopping errand to a Thai food shop selling expensive pottery and a wide range of Asian foodstuffs. This place is a local foody paradise and worth exploring.
We wandered around and purchased Australian olives in the Saturday local farmers market.
One of the images below is of the charming pharmacy. It had retained its old world style and charm whilst dispensing modern medicines.
Mullumbimby
Sadly time was pressing us now and we had to carry on with our journey. En route to Brisbane we pulled in to Mullumbimby for lunch. We were not sure what to expect here, but we quickly realised that we had found a spot. We parked the van and two young people were walking around this small inland town centre in their swimming gear, looking very chilled. (Need I remind you again that this is winter!). They explained that there was an open air heated pool and spa in town and they were now going to find a picnic spot. But before they left would we mind being interviewed for their U-tube channel on the topic of what we liked most about being human? I kid you not.
We were very obliging, went with the vibe and agreed to be filmed before finding ourselves a nearby spot to have lunch.
There we found someone meditating next to their table on the pavement, until their food order appeared. This place was obviously twinned with nearby Nimbin!
Brisbane
After so much countryside arriving in Brisbane on busy ring roads was a bit of a contrast. Now home to 3 and a half million people, it is Australia’s third city by population and geographically the largest of Australia’s capital cities.
Everything in Brisbane looks pretty new, which is not surprising when you consider that in 1826 only 120 people lived here.
The original occupants were The Turrbal and Yuggera peoples who lived in the area for more than 32,000 years and their ancestors go back more than 60,000 years. The Turrbal and Jagera people speak Yuggera and their name for Brisbane is Meanjin.
The Government of Queensland is already planning to host the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane and it is rumored that they plan to change the name back to Meanjin rather than retaining the current name which honours Sir Thomas Brisbane (1773–1860) who was Governor of New South Wales from 1821–1825. When it was given its name and declared as a town in 1834, to replace its penal colony status, Brisbane was still part of the Colony of New South Wales.
We were staying in the suburb of Chapel Hill tucked in next to forested Mount Coot Tha with views over the cityscape, a challenge to the Greenwich Park views over London!
This was taken from the Mount Coot Tha lookout. We were taken here for the first time 5 years ago by our hostess Bobbie Bright. This time we enthusiastically walked up from her house through the forested tracks to the lookout, on a typical Brizzie sunny winter’s day.
Although it is winter, in Queensland in June and July, with average maximums of about 22 °C . Brisbane has never recorded a sub-zero minimum temperature! The downside of this of course is that it can get pretty hot and humid in their summer.
Although the suburb of Chapel Hill was adjacent to beautiful walks through woodland accommodating Koala Bears, we did venture into town. Bobbie and her sister regularly visited the Harris Farms shop. I thought we were due to be taken out to the countryside, but no! I kid you not, but this place was to be found in a Brisbane shopping precinct. You are now going to have to salivate over photos of beautifully presented fresh produce!
On our last day in Brizzie we went to one of the galleries overlooking the Brisbane River. En route we passed through lots of building works and road works. It was explained that some of these were already part of gearing up for the Olympics in 2032!
We visited the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. Many of the exhibits were by or in collaboration with aborigines and Pacific islanders.
One exhibit had been inspired by 27 skulls found in an unmarked grave on a sugar cane plantation. It consisted of 27 skulls made of sugar.At the start of British colonisation in 1788 there were an estimated 770,000 aborigines living in Australia. Disease and warfare reduced this number to about 117,000 in 1900, or 16% of the population at the start of colonisation. Today there are about 980,000 aborigines or 4% of the Australian population.
The British in Australia appear to have been more aggressive than they were in New Zealand. Today 17% of New Zealand’s population is Māori. Nanaia Mahuta, a Māori person, was recently New Zealand’s foreign secretary.
Today we leave sunny Brisbane for the start of the higher inland part of our long route to Ullaru. The weather will change abruptly and we have been warned by our hosts in Allora to have our long John’s and cold weather gear on hand! We are prepared.
But before we leave we say, Brisbane we love you!
